Mr. Fahey will discuss his company's ASHRAE-approved approach to improving indoor air quality and addressing mold issues. Their product is used by Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton and other brands. Hotels using the AtmosAir product in their guestrooms qualify to market these spaces as Wellness Rooms and allergy-friendly rooms--and sell them at a premium.

The AtmosAir product improves indoor air quality enough to enable commercial buildings to lower their outside air intake rates for common areas, resulting in HVAC-related energy savings.

In Boston, Atmos Air technology is installed at TD Gardens, Gillette Stadium and Fenway Park.

Save That Stuff and Waste Management are ramping up their new food waste recovery facility in Charlestown. It uses an advanced de-packaging technology that captures and eliminates contaminants. By summer, other haulers will take their food waste to that facility, too.

After processing, the food waste is taken to an anaerobic digestion plant, which converts it into natural gas energy and a valuable soil product.

The new Charlestown facility enables customers to give haulers a broader range of food waste than before, including packaged items; and certain non-food items are no longer accepted.

Mr. Levy will tell us what the new facility means for hotels, and how hotels now have a new way to brag about their environmental programs.

The next generation of EV's is arriving this year. The new Chevy Bolt, Tesla 3 and Nissan Leaf travel over 200 miles on a charge. Plug-in hybrids, like the Chevy Volt and the Toyota Prius Prime, are much improved, too. These sophisticated cars will boost the population of EV drivers.

The MA Energy and Environmental Affairs Department still offers incentives for installing charging stations. The Massachusetts Electric Vehicle Incentive Program offers employers, "50 percent of the funding (up to $25,000) for hardware costs [for] installing Level 1 and Level 2 stations capable of charging EVs produced by multiple manufacturers... Applications will be processed on a first come, first served basis until all funding is expended."

Even more funding is on the way. The Volkswagen Clean Air Act Civil Settlement will require VW to pay over $4 billion into two state-oriented trust funds. VW's Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund will allocate over $69 million to MA, with 15% of that likely dedicated to EV charging infrastructure.

Also, Eversource has proposed a plan "to help install EV charging stations in workplaces" and other locations. This proposal is currently under consideration by the MA Department of Public Utilities.

This financial support for charging stations occurs at the same time that EV charging station technology is improving. Charging stations can now power-share the same circuit, allowing cars to split a single circuit and hosts to leverage existing electrical capacity without further upgrades. Adaptive charging software, which can be used for larger clusters of stations, control and allocate limited electrical capacity to meet multiple drivers' needs, greatly reducing the installation cost per station. Simplified access control options help owners control activation of each station, and more easily charge users for the electricity that they consume.

Hotels that offer charging stations attract EV drivers looking for a place to stay or eat while recharging. Drivers identify these charging stations by looking at online maps offered by PlugShare, ChargePoint and other companies.

Given the growth of EV's, rich MA incentives and the improvement in charging station technology, it makes sense for hotels to consider adding new EV charging stations.

OPPORTUNITIES

Green Lodging Trends Report Survey to Go "Live" on May 1

The 2017 Green Lodging Trends Report survey, sponsored by Green Lodging News and Greenview, will go 'live' on May 1. Thousands of lodging properties worldwide are encouraged to benchmark their sustainability practices by completing this survey. Last year, over 2,000 properties in 40 countries participated.

The survey, which will close on June 15, consists of about 100 easy-to-complete questions covering the latest in operational practices, facility attributes, and outreach programs to conserve resources, reduce carbon emissions, improve guests' experience and make a positive community impact.

Participation is free. Properties respond to the survey via the online platform where work can be saved and answers can be updated for the next year's survey. Returning participants can log in using their login credentials from last year (or click "forgot password" to reset).

After the survey, a Green Lodging Trends Report will be produced that will analyze and highlight exemplary practices and innovations. To access last year's report, click here.

For survey participants, a comparison report will be prepared which will serve as a yardstick for a property to understand the status of each practice within the participant universe.

Carbon buildup on pots, pans and other metal kitchen equipment slows the heating process--requiring stoves and ovens to run longer and use more energy. Heated soak tanks eliminate the carbon buildup and the accompanying fats, oil and grease. They do this while minimizing the use of energy, water, chemicals and elbow grease.